W. Victor Maconachy

Position: Vice president and chief academic officer, Capitol College, an independent college in Laurel dedicated to engineering, computer science, information technology and business.

Career Highlights: Deputy senior computer science authority, National Security Agency/Central Security Service; director, national information assurance education and training program, NSA; deputy director, INFOSEC professionalization program, Defense Information Systems Agency, NSA; chief INFOSEC human resources development, NSA; chief INFOSEC awareness programs, NSA; INFOSEC analyst, office of industrial relations, NSA; chief educational development, National Cryptologic School, NSA; and INFOSEC education and training officer, Navy.

Age: 60

Education: BS, psychology, Frostburg State University; MEd, education administration and supervision, Frostburg State University; PhD, vocational and special education, University of Maryland.

Personal: Lives in Severn, Md. with wife, Christine. Their children are Jeannette, 32; Rachael, 29; and Samuel, 19.

How did you get to where you are?

I'm an educator, and I accept all the responsibilities that come with that title. When I first began teaching in special education, I saw the dramatic effect that technical and trade education could have on the lives of children. Before, those students were generally confined to self-contained classrooms. I was privileged to work in a school that had technical education teachers who accepted special students into their classes. The classes equipped our students with marketable skills. Today they are leading productive lives as tradesmen and craft-workers, contributing to the overall good of their communities.

When I was teaching, I also worked on my master's degree at Frostburg. On the very night I finished my last class, my mentor pulled me aside and said, "And now it's time to pursue your PhD." So, I moved my family to central Maryland. I was very fortunate to pick up my career in vocational technical education under a very visionary principal. In 1980, I went to work in the U.S. Navy using my vocational technical education and learned the intricacies of cryptographic equipment. I had the privilege of working perhaps under the greatest supervisor I ever had, George Schlapo, a division chief, who taught me the value of working for "mission first." Three years later, I was offered a job at the NSA and spent the next 24 years there. I worked for many of the national leaders in computer security, and I was given an ever-ascending level of responsibilities. I was able to study the best attributes of some of our nation's finest leaders. Those leaders taught me the value of investing in people.

In addition to my regular duty assignments, I was also given several national-level responsibilities. One of them was the tremendous experience of working with Richard Clarke in crafting and executing our nation's first cyber-security strategy. During that period, I was able to develop and found the Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education. That program, which is now sponsored by NSA and the Department of Homeland Security, recognizes 87 colleges and universities that pass a rigorous test for teaching and research excellence in information assurance, which is the protection of information systems and the information that resides in them by using firewalls or anti-virus software. Congress believes so much in that program that it developed a program of scholarships to support students attending those centers of excellence.

As I approached retirement from NSA, I knew I wanted to become more engaged in academia. I was drawn to Capitol College for several reasons. First, I know that the president, Michael Wood, shares many of the core values I hold sacred. Second, this institution has tremendous capability to reach out beyond the campus and across the globe via strong distance education programs. I had many offers to go to many colleges, but the other thing that drew me to Capitol was its history of service to our country. It has served the Navy, NASA and many other federal agencies through the years. That was important to me.

My motivation is to try and meet the deep need our country has for technical education. We are at a critical time where we need more and deeper study. Capitol has a rich history of technical education. Science, technology, engineering and math education is a huge national movement. And I'm committed to advance higher education in the areas that we offer.

-- Judith Mbuya